


One Day My Ass

by Starkspectacular



Series: The Price the Prince Pays for the Messiah. [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst, Bad News, Cliche mirror breaking, M/M, Pain, Suffering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-17
Updated: 2015-07-17
Packaged: 2018-04-09 19:30:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4361465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starkspectacular/pseuds/Starkspectacular
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed's response to finding the news article about Ling's exile. </p><p>*Written by my RP partner, Zack*</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Day My Ass

The letter sat open in his lap as he stared at the bland grey wall that felt like it was creeping ever closer to his face. He was trapped in a daze and had been ever since he’d come back to his dorm. He had nothing here. No home comforts, no free time, no nothing. That wasn’t so bad, though. At least he had something to do.

 

With a sigh, he dropped his gaze down to the paper in his hands, the edges frayed and the creases so worn there were holes obscuring the bottom of the words on those lines. That was okay, he’d read it so much he could recite it word for word, but he re-read it anyway.

 

_Edward,_

 

It began with his name and he heard Ling’s voice chime in his head. The first paragraph was all he needed. He stopped at ‘ _my beloved_ ’ and scoffed, wrinkling his nose as he had every time he read it, and then folded the letter up again, placing it carefully on the rickety table next to his bunk.

 

It had been three months since Ling had left; two months and two weeks since Ed had dragged himself back to central.

 

Now he sat alone in a sad dorm room, dressed in that obnoxious blue that he’d hoped he’d seen the end of. He stood up, stretching his arms and frowning at the tightness at his waist, but padded over to the mirror to look himself over.

 

He felt small again. The uniform wasn’t ill-fitting, but it made him look and feel as stiff as a board. Grumbling to himself, he tugged at his sleeves, the scratchy material irritating his arms. It reminded him of all those years ago, but it looked so _wrong_ when he was wearing it. He may have been a state alchemist but he had never considered himself a soldier. Now, here he was, with no alchemy and nothing in his foreseeable future, masquerading as a soldier as if it gave him some sort of purpose. Checking his watch, he sighed. He would have to meet with Mustang in half an hour and things had been weird between them ever since…

 

Ever since the assassination attempt on the emperor of Xing.

 

That was when Ed had been at his lowest. A helpless, terrified animal and Mustang had been the one to pull him out of that stupor. Since then it was like the man had been walking on eggshells around him.

 

Ed hated that more than anything. He wanted the teasing; the encouragement disguised as scolding- just something that would make him feel normal.

 

He wanted Ling.

 

The knock at his door made him jolt and he clenched his jaw in frustration before marching over to open it. He grunted to acknowledge his visitor but a newspaper was thrust towards him before he even registered who it was. With hesitant hands, he took it, unfolding it slowly to read the title.

 

‘ _Emperor of Xing reported missing…_ ’

‘… _humiliation ceremony…_ ’

‘… _exiled…_ ’

 

He wasn’t sure exactly what happened, but the next thing he remembered was his brother perched on the edge of his bed, rubbing his back as he sobbed.

 

“Why?” He gasped, but his voice sounded foreign to him. Like it came from underwater or from a mile away. He could barely even see. “Why can’t we just be happy?”

 

The sadness didn’t last long, but the tears did. He was yelling within minutes.

 

“First the hiding,” He sobbed, his face twisting as anger filled him. “Then the distance, then the shooting,” He took a breath, fists clenched in the cheap sheets on the cheap mattress. Al didn’t move away. He knew Ed all too well. “He lost his fucking arm, Al, I was there when he had his automail attached- why can’t we just-”

 

He cut himself off, burying his face in his hands. His breathing was heavy and Al worried that Ed might injure himself. He drew him close and held him tight. “We’ll find him, brother…” Al offered, wincing as Ed stiffened in his arms.

 

“How, Al?” Ed spat, venom in his voice as he turned to glare at his brother. “You really think he’s going to come crawling back to Amestris?” He wriggled himself free from Al’s grasp and stood up, storming over to the mirror. “This is where they tried to kill him the first time!” He took a deep, shuddery breath and locked eyes with himself in the mirror, snarling. “What has he got here, Al? Me?” He drew his fist back, teeth bared, “I’m the reason this happened in the fucking! First! Place!” With his last three words his fist collided with the mirror, shattering it and sending shards flying.

 

“Edward!” Al cried, launching up off the bed and catching his brother’s wrist mid-air. It took all his strength to hold him back. “Ed, stop!”

 

Ed went down first, sinking to the floor in a mess of tears, and Al followed, cradling Ed’s bloodied hand to his chest and attempting to assess the damage in a panic.

 

“I can’t take it anymore.” Ed whispered as his brother pulled glass from his knuckles. “I can’t do it.”

 

Al was shaking as he tended to his brother’s wounds, but he knew Ed wouldn’t notice. He was in his own world now, but maybe words would help.

 

“You’ll be happy one day, Ed, I promise you will.”

 

“‘One day’ my ass.”

**Author's Note:**

> You will need to read the other part of this series to understand a little more and we're going to try and re-write our first RP so that everyone can understand everything. This was written by my partner and published here so we can keep it all together.


End file.
